The 99Ę Store is an excellent source for kitchen utinsiles, spices and numerous other items. I have a 99Ę garlic press that has holes 1/8 in., in diameter. The paste that it produces is as fine as the smaller holed, more expensive garlic presses. And, cleaning is a snap, it only requires rinsing under a strong stream of cold water.

I too have had great luck with the dollar store. I got a wide metal spoon that has served me well in making pasta sauces with meat.

If you want to spend a little more for a neat garlic-related tool, I'd suggest the Garlic Mincer from Lee Valley Tools. I've got one, and the nice part is you don't end up killing your hand when trying to crush a large and/or particularly dense piece of garlic.

I got a gadget at Williams Sonoma that looks like a vegetable peeler, only it has an extremely sharp blade, that I removed and re-sharpened to be scalpel sharp. The blade has a vernier screw that allows you to adjust the thickness of the slices. You just run the cloves over the blade and you get slices ranging from 100 um to 2 mm in thickness. This makes it easy to slice the garlic into ultra thins slices that almost melt while exuding the flavor into the food, and the slices do not clump together in the frying pan, like when you use a press. You do need to be careful not to slice too far down because your fingertip will become one of the slices if you aren't careful!

I wish I knew exactly what they called it, but if you go to one of their stores or check their website, you should be able to find it. I think it was about 10-15 dollars.

edit: I just found out, it was a truffle slicer. Works great.

Last edited by GaryProtein on Tue Oct 03, 2006 2:04 pm; edited 1 time in total

I find pressed garlic gets bitter when cooked as the oils you want are often pressed into the device, try a MICROPLANER and you will never press again. It minces so finely that you can use half as much as get more flavour as the oils stay in the cells and end up in your dish not all smushed into the press...MB

The Zyliss "Susi" garlic press is as near to perfection as is possible in this world.

Operates easily, cleans easily, creates the perfect texture (not the mush that comes out of most presses), and you don't even have to peel the garlic clove. Use it once, and you'll never consider using anything else.

As an engineer, I bow in deep respect to the designers of this little wonder.

Dollar store? Too cheap. I got an Oneida press at a kitchen store for $9.It works great. I also clean it by running it under water. But don't throw it out and get a new one. Save your money. $1 a week is $4 a month and $48 in a year.$48 times 20 years is $960 which added to your other money and put in mutual funds and the bank can get you a few thousands and let you retire earlier (even though the government will steal a lot from you.) And then by the time you do retire you will be rich.

Iím not fond of presses, or the mush they produce. And there is always something that looks like a bodily excretion stuck in it.

My sis-in-law gave me a Garlic Genius from Williams-Sonoma which she claims she didnít spend the full $39 for, as I never would have. It uses a screw mechanism to push 2-3 cloves thru a heavy stainless mesh and to turn a blade to lop off the strands of garlic as they exit the mesh. Itís like twisting a pepper mill to produce cute, neat cubes of garlic. The entire gizmo disassembles and is dishwasher safe, which is very cool. Unfortunately, I donít care for how large those cubes are, so I use it only occasionally.

Mostly, I chop my garlic the old fashion way: with a knife. Itís not hard and it really doesnít take very long, usually less time than it takes me to remove the papery covering. I can control the size and consistency of the finished product to match my liking, or to match the size of other ingredients, like ginger.

I noticed recently on one of my trips to Williams-Sonoma, that they have a drum type garlic slicer that works like a small hand crank type cheese grater, only instead of having teeth the pass by and grate, there is a razor sharp blade on the drum that slices the garlic so you don't have to worry about slicing off your fingertips!

I use an Oxo and have found that the ergonomic soft handles and the built-in hole cleaner that helps clear the left-over strandy stuff from the chamber works great. The press part is heavy and thick, so the edges of the holes cut like knives. Dishwasher cleanup. It is a well engineered device.